Saturday, March 26, 2011

I admit that I have had shopping fantasies since I went to that amazing estate sale last month where the seller was stressed and unorganized. There were so many unopened boxes that she was just not ready to sell at the time. Happily, patience has paid off a second time. Not only did the seller have a second estate sale but she remembered me as being the polite woman from the previous sale.

She was still stressed and only slightly more organized and she still refused to sell sentimental items but it was a fantasy come true to see what other treasures were hidden in the unopened boxes. There were a lot of Roseville and other vintage pottery but they were priced out of my thrift budget range.

Best find of the day was this beautiful green glass cake stand.

I also found this small, mercury glass vase. I don't know if it is old but it looks like it has been in storage for quite some time so it can't be a recent reproduction.

I love the shapes of these items. The tray is dated 1957 and has grape clusters around the edges. The larger urn and bud vase will be refinished in a shabby chic look. The small bowling pin is solid wood.

There were a lot of needleart pieces at this sale. I bought several embroidered linens, crochet doilies and lots of vintage lace. Plus several bags of thread spools, of which some are lovely silk threads.

There were also lots of vintage floral millinery supplies and these great little paper maché heads that were probably used as cupcake decoration picks.

I don't know why I needed this but I found a Bell and Howell 8mm projector in a case with an instruction book. I just had to have this. I think this reminds me of watching family home movies.

I only went to one other garage sale after this and picked up an Olympia typewriter in a case.

I am happy to have had a second chance to return to this sale and quench my curiosity. Life doesn't always give you second chances and I am grateful for this odd bit of luck.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

I used real eggs with the center blown out. This is real old school crafting. (You can use plastic eggs and prepare them by first, lightly sanding and then painting them with white acrylic paint.) Next I tore pieces of colored tissue paper and applied them to the shells using liquid laundry starch (you can probably use Mod Podge.) The colors from the tissue paper are so intense when applied to a white background and the starch will blend the colors.

My dear boyfriend came up with the brilliant idea of displaying them in the shabby chic "thing" that I thrifted yesterday. I padded each section with thrifted Spanish moss and set the eggs inside.

Regarding the display "Thing", several people commented on yesterday's post suggesting to use it to display Easter Eggs. I have to admit that I was thinking vintage Christmas ornaments instead of the obvious Easter decorations. Also, Mrs BC commented that the "Thing" is called an "apergne" and with a little additional research I found that it might be an "epergne". It is not as refined as the beautiful ones I found online but maybe it was a garden display version. Thank you Mrs BC for the clue.

Whatever it is called, it has turned out to be a fun decorative piece.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

A fight nearly broke out at an estate sale this morning. My money would have been on the scrappy little woman but the muscle-building hulk wouldn't have gone down easily. They were arguing over who was first in line. I guess if it is your business then you need to be more agressive but I was there just for the fun of it. The funniest part was that there really wasn't anything fantastic at this sale. I saw some of the first people in line leaving empty handed.

I did find a few treasures, some for upcycling and some for craft supplies.

Best find of the day was this shabby chic "thing". I haven't a clue as to what it came from or what it was used for but I envisioned it holding Christmas ornaments in each arm. It is made of metal and quite heavy. What would you use it for?

Staying with the shabby chic theme, I found some metal candle holders. I also found this vintage wooden spool. Last large spool I found at a sale was priced at two for $25. This one was only 50 cents.

I bought a bag of feathers for craft projects. I wonder if the person who collected these feathers loved birds as much as I love my ducks.

I bought a bag full of fabric trim. These will be perfect for Christmas projects.

I found a box with these old Christmas lights. I don't know what I will do with them but they remind me of Christmas past. The last few craft items I found were a bag of wooden beads and two jars of odd wooden pieces that had been carved on a lathe. The beads are in some lovely Fall colors with the green beads in the shape of apples so I can see an Autumn project later this year.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

I would like to apologize for removing the image of ForJapanWithLove.com. When I posted the image I was rushing to post before the March 18th Blogger's Day of Silence but I did so without doing any research. I still believe that they are doing something good to help Japan.

However, after doing further research, I found that the charity they are supporting, Shelterbox, cannot guarantee that 100% of your money donated will be directed to help Japan's urgent need.

My sister sent me a site that allows you to compare various charitable groups that are working to help Japan. My main critieria was to find a group that could guarantee that 100% of my donation would go to help Japan as well as have the lowest operating costs. The comparison site is called CharityNavigator.org.

I do not want my blog to become political but I want to do what I can to help Japan. My own, very personal connection, is that my mother's family was from Fukushima Prefecture although I do not know of any family still residing in the area.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Welcome to the beginning of the Designer Crafts Connection blog hop. The designers will all work on a monthly theme and you can hop through all of the blogs using the Designer Crafts Connection blog hop button on the right.

This month's theme is "Weddings". Because of my interest in vintage items, I have been noticing a trend toward indie weddings using vintage and thrifted items to decorate both the wedding and reception venues with DIY projects. This has been the inspiration for my Wedding projects that I created for this blog hop.

THE TABLESCAPE

I envisioned the centerpiece on each guest table to have a small vignette of old books, vintage silver and glass. All of the accessories were thrifted (except for the candy.)

I wanted to create the table tent in craft paper but I didn't have any craft paper cardstock. I decided to get creative and used a grocery bag. I cut open the bag along the seams and then ironed it. (Surprising how your family will take notice if they see you ironing a grocery bag.) Next, I used adhesive to adhered it to a piece of cardstock that was the right weight that I needed.

I cut the Table Tent out of a new Sizzix die that I designed (available April 2011.) I first embellished it with the Ornate Label and Paper Rosette die cuts. The Rosette was created using old sheet music. The button and millinery flowers are vintage. The heart lace was thrifted here. I soaked the lace in tea to give it a more vintage color. (My family noticed my odd choice of beverage too.) As a final piece of embellishment, I added some duck feathers as part of the overall decoration theme. The feathers were gifted from these guys.

I also designed these vintage spool placecard holders at the center of each guest table. They would hold baby photos of the bride and groom. These images are from the Graphics Fairy. I used vintage spools, lace, ribbon and buttons to create these. The tutorial is here. I also added more duck feathers.

GIFT CARD RECEPTACLE

To continue the vintage theme, I decorated a thrifted, wooden suitcase to hold gift cards for the wedding couple. I die cut the letters using the Serif Essentials dies and attached them to triangle banners.

The groom's boutonniere was created using duck feathers, millinery flowers, vintage lace and a vintage button.

I used a short piece of wire (about 6 inches folded in half) and added a pearl drop bead to hang from the bottom. I used another shorter piece of wire to start wrapping the duck feathers and millinery flowers onto the folded wire away from the drop bead. Once I was happy with the arrangement, I used florist tape to wrap the wires securely. Next I wrapped the tape with lace. I used another short piece of lace to hold the pin-back and then tied it into a knot on the front. I glued a vintage button on the front to complete the look.

GIFTS FOR THE WEDDING PARTY

Another part of the wedding decorations I envisioned were "Thank You" gift boxes for the wedding party members. I created a side table to display the decorated pillow box.

To create the box, I started by adhering the grocery bag to another sheet of cardstock and then die cut a Pillow Box. I inked the edges to add dimension. Next I took a vintage hanky and wrapped it around the box. I die cut a Ticket Strip out of cardstock and attached it to the sides of the box to hold the hanky in place. I did not want to adhere the delicate hanky to the box. I embellished the ticket strip with another Ornate Label, more vintage heart lace and added a pearl-looking button as an accent.

I had so much fun creating all of these projects. The amazing thing was that, in all of these photos, the only two items I had to purchase for these specific projects were the alligator clips used in the vintage spool photo holders and the candy in the very first photo. Even the lemons in the lemonade were from a friend's garden.

Hope you enjoyed my vision of a DIY/Vintage Wedding theme. Please use the Designer Crafts Blog Connection button on the right to continue through the blog hop. Thank you for visiting.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

We had planned on going to four Estate Sales today but did so well at the first two that we decided to call it a day. I felt like we hit the estate sale jackpot. At the first sale I was the 30th person to sign up and luckily they took the first 30 people. Hooray! There was a lot of Mid Century Modern furniture but the prices were high and the big boys (dealers) were grabbing those. I stayed with what I was comfortable with and got some great deals.

Best find of the day were these suitcases. The middle one was from last week's sale but it just looked good in this photo with the two I bought today. I also found a pair of shoe trees.

I can never resist vintage ornaments. Some are Shiny Brites and some are from Poland.

Evidently I can't resist sewing baskets either. I love old spools and buttons. My dear Boyfriend found the tin on the left that was filled with vintage sewing surprises. Yay!

This plastic sewing box is in beautiful condition.

These vintage button cards are all from different companies. The card in front says "4 for 12 cents". How quaint to think of a time when you could buy four buttons for only 12 cents.

The second sale that we went to also had some Mid Century Modern pieces but smaller items that I could afford.

I found these Georges Briard glass serving dishes. The pattern is classic Mid Century Modern in gold.

One of the few needlework techniques I have never tried is Tatting because I don't think I would have the patience. Because of this, I admire tatted needlework and like the look and feel of this lace.

I also found some items to use for crafting supplies. I grew up with Blue Chip Stamps and have always wished I had some for my heritage scrapbook pages. Imagine my joy to find several books filled with Blue Chip Stamps. I also bought a small bag of rhinestone jewelry to use for crafting but found a pair of sterling silver earrings among the pieces. The two floral corsages will be disassembled for craft supplies.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

I want to thank all of my Followers, both old and new, that have helped me reach the 100 Follower milestone. By the wonderful response, it looks like I'm on my way to the next milestone.

But, as promised, I have randomly chosen a winner from those that left a comment on the Giveaway post.

"gsvee" you are comment #11, please email me at Lynda_Creates@yahoo.com (be sure to add the underscore) and send me your address. Also, let me know if you are a crafter or a thrifter so I can add a little additional surprise.

It has been so much fun getting to this milestone. Please be sure and visit on Sunday, March 13 when the Designer Crafts Blog Hop officially begins with some amazing projects and even more amazing participating designers. The Designer Crafts button on the right will take you through the blog hop and every month the Designer Crafts Blog Hop will hold a Giveaway for some fabulous prizes.

I have been working on a special project for this event so please plan to visit my blog on March 13. And again, thank you to all of my wonderful Followers.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

This placecard holder is part of a larger project that I am working on. Here is a tutorial on how I created this easy project.

Supplies I used:
Wooden Spool (vintage or new)
Lace (length varies depending on the size of the spool but approximately one yard should work)
Alligator clips (mini, 1 1/4" Test Clips, available at Radio Shack)
Chopstick (pointy kind. A small stick might work as long as the end is thin enough)
Saw (or some way to trim the chopstick to length)
Various embellishments

Begin by inserting the chopstick through the spool. Keeping the point flush with one end, mark the length so that the piece will be the same length as the spool once it is trimmed. Using the saw, carefully trim the chopstick.

Next, attach the Alligator clip to the narrow end of the trimmed chopstick. I used needle-nose pliers and pinched the clip to the chopstick. I also used a bit of hot glue to tightly secure the two.

Insert the alligator clip/chopstick piece into the spool and carefully add a spot of hot glue into the top hole to center the clip and some glue into the bottom hole to secure the piece. Be careful not to let the hot glue overflow on the bottom of the spool or it will not sit flat.

Now comes the fun part. Start wrapping the lace (or other embellishment) from the bottom upwards. I used a bit of handmade lace that I found at an estate sale but you can also use ribbon. Note: If you cut handmade lace be sure to add a tiny bit of glue (I used Glossy Accents) to both of the cut ends so that they do not unravel. When you reach the top of the spool, add a spot of glue and secure the end.

To embellish my final piece I inserted a pearl-headed pin and some millinery flowers. The little card on top is from a card game I had thrifted. I liked how it mentions "a second-hand store". It is held in place by the alligator clip. There are so many ways to embellish these. I plan to share more when I complete the bigger project.

Don't forget to comment on my GIVEAWAY post here and become a Follower for a chance to win some vintage ephemera. {Giveaway is now closed}

Saturday, March 5, 2011

We had some fantastic weather today but it ended up being an odd day for thrifting. We had one good estate sale and then we didn't find a single thing the rest of the day.

Best find of the day has to be these two sewing boxes. The photo above shows just half of the treasures I found inside the larger sewing box. My two favorite finds were the three larger sewing needle cards. The Happy Home and Bestmaid needle cards are from Japan. There is also a promotional needle card from Ralphs grocery store (a popular store that is still in business), made in West Germany. All of these seem to be from the 1950s.

The second favorite sewing basket find were a set of brass buttons marked WATERBURY CO'S CONN W21. Previously, while researching my family history, I had found ties back to Waterbury, Connecticut and had read some history about the famous Waterbury brass button industry during the mid to late 1800's. Waterbury produced brass buttons used on army uniforms for both sides of the Civil War. The buttons I found are nowhere near that old but they are an amazing connection to Waterbury and my family history.

The sewing baskets also had a treasure trove of old thread spools, two Witch-needle threaders, a noise maker (image of an old man with a handle-bar mustache wearing a small flower in his hat), vintage silver and gold paper leaves, "tomato" pin cushion and lots of buttons.

I also found a vintage alarm clock from about the 1950s. It is by the Lux company, called Apollo. I wound it up and it works perfectly but the ticking is rather loud. I can only imagine what the alarm must sound like. I also found a retro paper table cover. The pattern is called Star Glo and looks from the space age era.

The final find was this vintage suitcase labeled "Atlas Luggage". I'm always on the lookout for suitcases that are within my price range. There were two pieces in this set but I couldn't afford both.

Don't forget to comment on my GIVEAWAY post here and become a Follower for a chance to win some vintage ephemera. {Giveaway is now closed}

About Me

I am a graphic designer in the paper crafting industry. I create things everyday but it is here where I can create something that I enjoy everyday. And it is here that I have also discovered a renewed passion for seeking vintage treasures.
"The only truly happy people are children and the creative minority" -- Jean Caldwell